Travelin' Soldier
by Hakugei
Summary: Romance Sonata 2. War is a horrible thing in life, especially since it tears two people who were starting to love one another. RyoSaku. Deathfic.


**Ever since I uploaded my fic 'Shinjitsu' I thought that maybe I should do a series of romance songfics. You know, like a long series of one-shot songfics. 'Shinjitsu' will be the first one and here's number 2!**

**DISCLAIMER: If PoT or Travelin' Soldier were mine then I'd buy myself another charger that ACTUALLY WORKS!**

**PAIRINGS: Since the song itself is pretty much straightforward (unless I alternate the lyrics) the pairing is RyoSaku (not suited who prefer yaoi)**

**WARNING: OOC, AU, deathfic**

**Travelin' Soldier**

_Two days past eighteen _

_He was waitin' for the bus in his army greens _

_Sat down in a booth at a café there _

_Gave his order to the girl with a bow in her hair _

_He's a little shy so she gave him a smile _

_So he said would you mind sittin' down for a while _

_And talkin' to me I'm feelin' a little low _

_She said I'm off in an hour and I know where we can go_

He felt awkward in these clothes. This wasn't his normal simple red shirt and black pants. Instead he was in heavy army clothes that weighed him down. He'll never forgive that idiot of a father that he had who forced him to go through this. His only turned eighteen two days earlier! The bus was taking forever to get here.

Back at home in America he was a Nisei, a second generation of Japanese-Americans. Over there he was treated like a traitor and was forced into an internment camp that had the worse conditions. Then about halfway through the war the US enforced an all-Nisei regiment for the war. Wanting to get away from his perverted father he signed up.

He was here for a rest before he had to do more trooping and more gunfire in the Pacific.

He went inside a ramen restaurant with a traditional tatami door. A stone near the wooden doors read 'Kawamura Sushi' in hiragana the two characters making up 'sushi' bigger. He sat down at an empty table. A girl with long brown hair braided into pigtails and nervous brown eyes came hustling down. She blushed when she saw him.

"Hi…um, I'm Ryuzaki Sakuno," she said her face slightly pink.

"Echizen Ryoma," replied Ryoma. The girl named Sakuno noticed that despite the customer's cocky exterior he was quite shy. She tried her best to smile.

"You seem lonely," said Sakuno.

"Actually I am, I always want someone to talk to me," replied Ryoma.

"I'll talk to you! My friend, Tomo-chan, moved last week and I don't have someone to talk to. I have a break in an hour. I know where we can go!" said Sakuno. She skipped off to give Ryoma's order to the chef.

_So they went down and they sat on the pier _

_He said I bet you got a boyfriend but I don't care _

_I've got no one to send a letter to _

_Would you mind if I sent one back here to you?_

When Sakuno's shift was over the two went near the harbor and sat on a pier. The sunset looked so beautiful giving off a light color to the sky and to the vast ocean below. They didn't talk much seeing as Sakuno was awfully shy. Finally Ryoma spoke up.

"Well, uh, Sakuno-san," said the boy. "You probably have a boyfriend, but everyone else has someone to send letters to. Would you mind if I sent you one?" Sakuno smiled in delight.

"I'd love to receive letters from you!" she cried. "I always wanted a pen pal!" For the first time in a long time Ryoma smiled a true smile.

_I cried _

_Never gonna hold the hand of another guy _

_Too young for him they told her _

_Waitin' for the love of the travelin' soldier _

_Our love will never end _

_Waitin' for the soldier to come back again _

_Never more to be alone _

_When the letter says a soldier's coming home_

Sakuno and Ryoma parted when they got back to the restaurant. Ryoma left for Iwo Jima on a plane. He stared at his new friend once more before boarding. Meanwhile the girl cried silently knowing that she might never see him again.

_So the letters came _

_From an army camp _

_In California then Vietnam _

_And he told his heart _

_It might be love _

_And all of the things he was so scared of _

_Said when it's gettin kinda tough over here _

_I think about that day sittin' down at the pier _

_And close my eyes and see your pretty smile _

_Now don't worry but I won't be able to write for a while_

"Sakuno!" called an elderly woman. "There's a letter for you! Someone named Echizen Ryoma." The said girl rushed out and looked at the envelope. The letter was indeed from the soldier. Thrilled she ripped open the envelope and read the letter.

Dear Sakuno-san,

I miss you a lot. I think I love you. I've thought about you every day since we parted. Things are getting pretty rough around here, but when it does I think about that day at the pier. I see your pretty smile when I sleep. I might not be able to write for a while, but don't worry, I'll be back soon!

Ryoma

_I cried _

_Never gonna hold the hand of another guy _

_Too young for him they told her _

_Waitin' for the love of the travelin' soldier _

_Our love will never end _

_Waitin' for the soldier to come back again _

_Never more to be alone _

_When the letter says a soldier's coming home_

Ryoma was now helping one of his fellow soldiers. The soldier had a huge cut across his stomach and he had to get him to safety fast.

"Just go without me Echizen I'll be fine," said the soldier.

"You're so stubborn…as usual." Muttered Ryoma. "We're almost there! Just hang on!" Just then the boy tripped letting go of the soldier. He saw an enemy soldier about to strike.

"MOVE!" yelled Ryoma shoving the soldier aside. He took the blow that was meant for his companion. He felt the pain in his head as he fought to stay conscious.

'Gomen, Sakuno,' thought the boy. 'Ashiteru.' Then everything went black.

_One Friday night at a football game _

_The Lord's Prayer said and the anthem sang _

_A man said folks would you bow your heads _

_For the list of local Vietnam dead _

_Cryin' all alone under the stands _

_Was the piccolo player in the marching band _

_And one name read and no one really cared _

_But a pretty little girl with a bow in her hair_

Sakuno sat under the stands at a football game. She played the piccolo in the home team's marching band. A man told everyone to bow their heads for the dead soldiers and that's what she did.

The man started reading off the names. The girl started crying because she knew some of those people. She started crying even harder when she heard one name being called.

"Echizen Ryoma…"

_I cried _

_Never gonna hold the hand of another guy _

_Too young for him they told her _

_Waitin' for the love of the travelin' soldier _

_Our love will never end _

_Waitin' for the soldier to come back again _

_Never more to be alone _

When the letter says a soldier's coming home 

Sakuno wiped away the tears streaming down her pretty face. She would never be able to see Ryoma or his wonderful self again. Earlier her grandmother had tried to comfort her, but she still felt awful. She had only spent a day with that boy and when she believed they could finally be together she lost him.

The girl snuck into the kitchen and stole a knife from a drawer. She crept upstairs into her bedroom and traced the flat surface of the knife she stole. The sharp blade showed her reflection; a girl with brown hair and brown eyes filled with a liquid pain. Sakuno was about to plunge the blade into her chest when…

"DON'T!" The girl was so startled she dropped the knife. It clattered to the floor with a thud. She looked around trying to find the owner of that voice. It sounded so familiar.

"Sakuno…" The said turned around and her brown eyes gasped. There was Ryoma exactly as she remembered seeing him. The green army clothes, the dark hair, the golden eyes, they're all him. She ran and embraced him.

"Ryoma-kun!" cried Sakuno. "You did come back!" Ryoma hugged her.

"Sakuno, I have to go now," said the golden-eyed boy.

"No! I just found you Ryoma-kun! I don't want to lose you again!" cried Sakuno tears streaming down her face again.

"I'll be watching you," said Ryoma. "When you were crying at the stadium I was there. I saw you and well…I didn't want you to be like that. I don't like it when you cry Sakuno. You're much more beautiful when you are happy." The girl smiled for the first time since she found out her friend was dead.

"Ashiteru, Sakuno-chan," said the golden-eyed boy. Sakuno's brown eyes lit up and her lips met his. They stayed like that for a long time. The crystal tears dried up. Her love was back, she didn't want him to leave again. The two pulled away.

"Ashiteru, Ryoma-kun," said Sakuno. "We will see each other again, won't we?"

"Hai, Sakuno-san," replied Ryoma a true smile on his face as he started to fade away. Realizing what was happening Sakuno tried to reach out to him.

"Ryoma-kun matte!" cried the girl. "I just found you, I don't want to lose you again!"

"I'll be watching over you," replied Ryoma. "Be happy for me!" Then with a flash of light the boy was gone. Sakuno stared at the ceiling for a while.

'Was that a dream?' she thought. Then she touched her lips. 'No, it was real. I felt his kiss. Ryoma-kun, I'll wait for the day we will be together again. I'll always wait.'

_I cried _

_Never gonna hold the hand of another guy _

_Too young for him they told her _

_Waitin' for the love of the travelin' soldier _

_Our love will never end _

_Waitin' for the soldier to come back again _

_Never more to be alone _

_When the letter says a soldier's coming home_

**Owari…**

**I know it was straight, but I wanted to do an American song for once and that was the only romantic one that I could find. Oh, by the way, if you don't know this takes place during World War II. Review kudasai! No flames kudasai! Ja ne!**

**Facts and Vocabulary** (sorry if it's out of order in terms of order in which they pop up in the story):

Nisei- Japanese who were born and raised in America who have parents immigrated from Japan so since Ryoma was born in the US and his father was born in Japan he's technically a Nisei in the anime as well

Iwo Jima- Have any of you readers ever seen the picture of the soldiers raising the American flag? Well, that's where it took place! Iwo Jima is an island near Japan

-san- sometimes attached to the end of the last names of adults or anyone that you don't know too well (or if you're very polite)

-chan- sometimes attached to the ends of mostly the names of children and friends

-kun- sometimes attached to the ends of names for boys

Ashiteru- technically means 'I love you'. Another way is 'Daisuki desu'

Matte- means 'wait'

Gomen- means 'sorry'. The proper way is 'Gomen nasai' which means 'I'm sorry'


End file.
